Sazerac Cocktail

The Sazerac, one of the earliest recorded cocktails, came into this world sometime in the 1850s. It was originally made with brandy, but (as I’m sure you’ll agree) there’s nothing quite like one made with a good rye whiskey.–Ben Reed

LC Shazam! Sazerac Note

It should come as no surprise that the Sazerac cocktail, a drink that draws heavily on the spirited oomph of absinthe, originated in the relatively loose city of New Orleans. It reportedly came into existence as the house cocktail at an “exchange” (read: bar) run by a booze importer in the early 1800s. It was a variant on a “cocktail,” which in those days referred to the loose equation of a little sugar, a little water, a lot of booze, and a splash of bitters. Peychaud’s is the traditional bitters of choice, seeing as the druggist Antoine Amedie Peychaud was located just down the street from the “exchange.” Cognac was the original booze of choice, though allegiance quickly shifted to rye whiskey in the late 1800s when a phylloxera outbreak in Europe halted the production of European wines and spirits, while barrels of straight rye conveniently came floating down the Mississippi from the Midwest. What makes the Sazerac a unique expression of cocktaildom is the rinse of absinthe in the glass, which lends the cocktail a slight herbal smack and a surfeit of bragging rights. (Yes, in a sense, it’s a damn fool waste. You can leave a slight puddle in the glass, but don’t get all crazy and leave all the absinthe. Wait and take a sip of this cocktail prior to passing judgement.)

Don’t be confused if you happen across a bottle labeled “Sazerac” at the liquor store. This is a brand of rye whiskey—and a misnomer.